Mariners Release Kevin Correia

The Mariners announced that they have released right-hander Kevin Correia, who was in camp on a Minor League contract. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted earlier today that Correia was planning to opt out of his deal after being reassigned to Minor League camp.

Correia, 34, struggled to a 5.44 ERA in 154 innings between the Twins and Dodgers in 2014 — the second season of a two-year, $10MM pact he had inked with Minnesota prior to the 2013 campaign. Correia pulled his weight in the first year of the deal, registering a 4.18 ERA in 185 1/3 innings, but his middling strikeout rate (4.8 K/9 over the past two seasons) and hittable arsenal appear to have caught up with him in 2014.

Still, despite his stumbles, FIP and xFIP feel that Correia’s ERA could’ve been a bit lower, pegging him at 4.67, and the veteran righty has shown very good control over the past four seasons (2.3 BB/9). Recently, Heyman noted that even though Correia was a longshot to make the M’s, injuries elsewhere would likely lead to significant interest from other clubs.